The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1887-04-13
A Working Mechanics idea OF
Trades Unions.

lIlc1 SldIbtu w CllCUltbC a DCllilOn
round our shop asking for reduction
in the hours of labor. What kind of a
petition do you suppose it was? A
blank sheet of paper just for the men
to sign their names TO. When they
brought it round to me l said: No, l
don't sign anything like that; l want to
know what I'm signing You know
perfectly well what it is, said they;
you know just what it is for Il
know what you've been talking about
/ replied, a reduction of hours; but
this blank sheet of paper doesn't say
anything about that For all l know,
if sign my name to it it might come
back to me in the form of note for a
hundred dollars, and then l couldn't
get out of paying it any way They
began to bulldoze me, but / stood right
up and told them what l thought of
that kind of business--told 'em I'd see
'em hung before I'd sign that paper
now-and bless me if the paper didn't
go the rounds of the shop, and they
got the signature of every man except
me. Bulldozing is one of the chief
weapons of labor organization. Men
are forced into assemblies and trades
unions, and that's all wrong. Trades
unionism creates more disturbance,
more jealousy among men than any
cause under the sun. l remember of
working in large shop in Boston for a
number of years where there was no
trades-union or organization of any
kind among the men. We got along
splendidly with one another and with
the employers. BY and by somebody
brought trades-unionism into the shop.
l said to him, You're bringing the
devil into this shop and so it proved.
From that time to this there has been
terness and ill-feeling of all kinds
among the men. They don't trust one
another, and their employers don't
know whether to trust them or not. A
trades-union is a great breeder of
jealousy. / know how it is-I've been
there, I've suffered from it. | have
the reputation of being a first-class
workman, and | suppose l have suf-
fered as much, if not more, from the
jealousy of my fellow-workmen than
any other man in the city of Boston.
l have always got good jobs be-
cause the bosses have known per-
fectly well that l could work, and l
have never had to ask for jobs in any
shop l have worked at. But / have
been accused by the men of going to
the boss and asking for a good job, and
of making friends with the boss in or
der to get good jobs, and all that kind
of thing, and there was never word
of truth in any one of the accusations.
remember one time in the shop where
l worked had tip-top job to do, and
was making a pretty good thing at it.
The men got jealous and kicked up
row. They went to the boss and said:
This man is getting too much Well
said the boss, he's earning it, Well,'
said they, 8 it isn't fair to u.s. what
can l do about it?' asked the boss.
divide the work up among u.s. they
replied. He came to me and asked me
about it. | said 'All right. Just to
show you what l can do give me one
of the poorest jobs you have got in the
shop. I'll hold my own at it in the
one of the poorest jobs there was in the
shop. / went to work at it, and l
earned my $25 and $50 a week right
straight along, while the other fellows
got beat in trying to tackle my old job.
My experience (Which is pretty long
one) in shops shows me that the work
ing-men who make the most row and
are continually crying out about their
grievances, and are continually kicking
up fuss, are generally the poorest
workmen, and often the poorest men,
speaking OF them as men. There's a
man who works near me in the shop
where / am who is always talking
about labor troubles, and what work
ing-men are going to do for their rights,
and last week he put in just two hours
of work. The rest he spent off on a
drunk. The labor agitators I've come
across have been cranks, mostly, or else
fellows who have only taken the thing
up to make what they could out of it.
| think somebody could write capital
article on Labor Agitators as Cranks. ,
| There could be lot of telling hits put
into it. The agitators don't care snap
of the finger for the working-men.
That's as true as gospel. They care
mostly to advance their own interests,
and so long as they can succeed in
making good living by turning them
selves into walking gas-works there'll
be as many labor troubles as people
want to handle. Labor organizations
are more tyrannical than employers
ever were. That's another little bit of
knowledge l have derived from expert
ence. contend that I've got perfect
right to earn my living at my trade,
despite any labor organization that pre-
tends to the contrary. What's the adj
vantage of living in free country if
this principle is not true and sound?
If things have come TO that pass
wherein working-man is no longer a
free agent in these United States,
why, the sooner we git up and git
the better. Speaking about tyrannical
labor organizations, do you remem-
Der what the cigar-makers did in New
York, a little while ago, when there was
that great rumpus about boycotting a
poor woman's bakery? 1t seemed that
this woman had daughter who mar
ried cigar-maker. This couple used
to be presented every morning by the
bakery woman with dozen of nice
fresh rolls for breakfast, and this went
on even after the boycott was declared
against the bakery. But what did the
Cigar-makers' Union do? They got
this man discharged from his employ
ment because he ate his mother-in-